Quintana Roo capo ‘Doña Lety’ arrested

Her gang has controlled drug trafficking in Cancún and Playa del Carmen

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Thursday, August 10, 2017

The woman believed to be behind the surge in violence in Cancún and Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, was arrested yesterday by security forces in the state of Puebla.

Leticia Rodríguez Lara, 48, known as “Doña Lety” or “La 40,” is originally from the state of Veracruz but during the last four years she has managed to pry control of the two resort cities away from the Los Zetas cartel.

To do so the former Federal Police officer, who has been linked to the Sinaloa Cartel, recruited deserters from the Zetas and the Gulf Cartel, as well as ex-convicts and presumably former police colleagues. Once her grip on the cities was secured, Rodríguez and her criminal organization controlled the sale of illegal drugs and began expanding into other illegal activities.

In addition to selling drugs in the hotel zones of Cancún and Playa del Carmen, the gang engaged in the extortion of business owners.

In response, the displaced Zetas allied themselves with the Gulf Cartel and a gang known as Los Pelones, creating a group called Los Combos whose sole purpose was to take on Rodríguez’s cartel and push it out of the former Zeta territory.

Rodríguez has been a wanted woman since 2012 when the federal Attorney General’s office (PGR) opened two investigations, one for carrying unauthorized weapons and another for human trafficking.

Rodríguez, 48, was arrested while traveling on the Puebla-Veracruz highway.